Scotland v England, Murrayfield, Sat 8th Feb, 17:00

England head coach Stuart Lancaster has kept faith with the side which lost to France and named an unchanged line-up for Saturday's match against Scotland.
Gloucester's Jonny May starts on the wing despite breaking his nose nine minutes into the 26-24 loss in Paris.
Courtney Lawes will be in the second row after his cheekbone bruising eased, while Danny Care and Owen Farrell form the half-back partnership.
"They're determined to put last week's result behind them," said Lancaster.
England will be hoping to avoid a third successive Test defeat, having lost to New Zealand in the autumn and France in the opening weekend of the Six Nations.
Scotland, however, were well beaten by Ireland on Sunday have not prevailed in the Calcutta Cup since their 15-9 win at Murrayfield in 2008.
"Scotland will be hugely motivated by their defeat in Dublin and, as we found two years ago, Murrayfield is a tough place to play," added Lancaster, who began his England reign with a 13-6 win against Scotland in 2012.
May is not expected to wear a protective face mask when he wins his third cap in Edinburgh.
Luther Burrell, who scored on his debut at the Stade de France, will make his second Test appearance at centre, while Jack Nowell takes up the right-wing spot for what will also be his second cap.
Wasps prop Matt Mullan will travel as the 24th man.

England XI v Scotland: Mike Brown (Harlequins, 22 caps), Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs, 1 cap), Luther Burrell (Northampton Saints, 1 cap), Billy Twelvetrees (Gloucester Rugby, 9 caps), Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 2 caps), Owen Farrell (Saracens, 20 caps), Danny Care (Harlequins, 43 caps), Joe Marler (Harlequins, 16 caps), Dylan Hartley (Northampton Saints, 51 caps), Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 44 caps), Joe Launchbury (London Wasps, 15 caps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 26 caps), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints, 24 caps), Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, capt, 21 caps), Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 6 caps)
Replacements: Tom Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 13 caps), Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 11 caps), Henry Thomas (Sale Sharks, 2 caps), Dave Attwood (Bath Rugby, 6 caps), Ben Morgan (Gloucester Rugby, 16 caps), Lee Dickson (Northampton Saints, 13 caps), Brad Barritt (Saracens, 17 caps), Alex Goode (Saracens, 14 caps)

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:

If Care gets injured Youngs is a like for like replacement.

A much bigger worry would be Farrell getting injured, England do not have a reserve fly half. Or reserve flankers. Or a fit reserve full back. Or a reserve tighthead. Or a reserve hooker who can throw to the back. Or reserve 12 who can act as a distributor.

TJ wrote:

tigertattie wrote:Why are folk singing the praises of Denton? He show boats. Doesn't get involved in rucks. Hangs back looking for the glory carry. And when he gets the ball he runs into the first defender, doesn't get over the gain line. Never offloads. Poor. Poor. Poor.

Beattie is by far the better player.

significantly the most yards made - and put his heart into it - one of the few players to do so

Nachos Jones wrote:

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:

If Care gets injured Youngs is a like for like replacement.

A much bigger worry would be Farrell getting injured, England do not have a reserve fly half. Or reserve flankers. Or a fit reserve full back. Or a reserve tighthead. Or a reserve hooker who can throw to the back. Or reserve 12 who can act as a distributor.

I have never rated Ben Youngs as a starting 9 at International level myself. He is, however, the perfect impact sub at International level.
I do think that SL is putting too many eggs in one basket when it comes to Farrell though by not having a replacement 10 in the subs. I think this is a very risky approach. It would be very wise to get one of the other boys in there and give them the experience because if Farrell (hope not) gets injured, there is no specialist with the experience to replace him.

GeordieFalcon wrote:How many points does Farrell miss for,England!

Aside from that we should have put 50 points on them yesterday!

Ireland are going to hump us big time.

GeordieFalcon wrote:How many points does Farrell miss for,England!

Aside from that we should have put 50 points on them yesterday!

Ireland are going to hump us big time.

TJ wrote:Ireland look by far the best side so far in this 6N.

TJ wrote:He  (Denton) consistently made the hard yards as well- getting go forward ball and setting it back.  I assume that was his assigned role.  Watch it again if you can - he was one of the few Scots who looked hungry and gave his all

GeordieFalcon wrote:How many points does Farrell miss for,England!

Aside from that we should have put 50 points on them yesterday!

Ireland are going to hump us big time.

Hood83 wrote:

gregortree wrote:

SecretFly wrote:

doctor_grey wrote:Was especially concerned about Nowell.  If he felt comfortable that is a good thing.  From the reports I read, Ireland was kicking to the Welsh backs a lot, so we could expect more of the same towards May and Nowell.

Why?  

England are a different team to Wales.  They'll need either a vaguely different plan or a completely different one.  I don't think Ireland under Schmidt will be a single plan team

The French tested our newbies on the wing in that way, and to good effect, albeit with a helpful bounce or two. The Doc is saying it might be worth a further punt as a tactic (not a plan as such) by Ireland. I think the new boys are learning quickly, and Billy V is covering back well and I expect the Irish management will not regard it as a key tactic. The Irish line out and the drive look formidable though.

Their maul looked incredible. That to me is a worrying sign that Schmidt is going to slowly give them more and more strings to their bow. I think Lancaster etc. have improved us in areas but I'm not sure what are weapons are and where we've really moved forward. Definitely are carrying has been a step up these last two weeks.

nathan wrote:jeez, this site is starting to get pretty depressing with all the negative posts. Whats going with you people!

mystiroakey wrote:By the way Have england ever once won a game because they played well?

Has it ever happened in the history of any sport ever?

Cumbrian wrote:I am becoming more confident, there was assuredness and control about the English play that I haven't seen for years.  They didn't panic against France and didn't go into their shells against the Scots, despite the conditions.  If we can beat the Irish I think we have a real shot at the title.  

mystiroakey wrote:Yesterday's game answered the critics..

We did everything to move on.

We didn't switch off. Our backs got involved. 
They run intelligent lines, Farrell and care bossed it.. The line out was better, the scrum was better, we didn't make stupid subs, we didn't lose a point, we didnt score massive points, but the weather and pitch was shocking.

Not one person has the right to ask for more.. Not one,,

We were pleased with a lot of aspects, but are frustrated that we didn't convert more of our opportunities because we dominated the second half," Lancaster said. "There were chances there that we didn't take and we definitely have regrets over the points we left out there

mystiroakey wrote:

TJ wrote:Ireland look by far the best side so far in this 6N.

not to me.

but ok fair enough they look up there- do you think they will hump england..

TJ wrote:

mystiroakey wrote:

TJ wrote:Ireland look by far the best side so far in this 6N.

not to me.

but ok fair enough they look up there- do you think they will hump england..

I doubt they will hump England - but I'd be surprised if Ireland didn't win.  England are the closest to them but Ireland are clearly the best side from what we have seen so far.  

mystiroakey wrote:I am just hoping one of Ireland or Wales can beat France.. SO the tourney is open

mystiroakey wrote:Fair play SL needs to allways look at how we can improve.

That is a key trait to a good Coach.

NZ coaches have allways had that attitude.

But in this case I think its very easy to look at the game and think the conditions were better than they were. Hence thinking we should have converted more.

Scotland couldn't hold on to the ball. England normally cant hold on to the ball in those conditions either. I think we made it look easier that it was..

Nachos Jones wrote:Its going to be a cracking match Cyril. One of those games that you know will be entertaining.

TJ wrote:What do I base that on?

they have the best 10 around right now
They are playing the right tactics and vary them for each game / opposition
they have a settled experienced team
They absolutely destroyed last years champions
They have confidence and team ethic
They have no obvious weak points

Now England are not a bad side but are not the finished article yet and I don't think they have the tactical flexibility or understanding of each other to beat Ireland

Ireland just have that extra bit of something that separates the great from the good

Its just on the showing so far but to any neutral Ireland are clearly the best side FROM WHAT WE HAVE SEEN SO FAR

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:You also cant pretend it was a flawless victory. They dominated against weak opposition but to pretend that this makes England suddenly invincible is delusionary. As does pretending Ireland are suddenly invincible after one big game over a distracted Wales side.
What we do know is that theres 3 teams in the title race now.
Im certainly not in the camp that thinks englasnd will get humped by Ireland, but nor would it be on any level a shock if they lost...other than the bombastic dullards who havent learnt from the last 10 years.
Weve seen England twice get humiliated when chasing grand slams, and one of those years they were head and shoudlers the best team in the competition. This year they are looking second best or maybe joint best, so dont be amazed if they contrive to lose another game or even two.
Im not in the "Farrell is rubbish" camp, I think hes answering his questions.
I too have pointed out that england backed themselves to win through their strengths and using they superior players rather than trying to nullify a weak opposition...a mistake theyve made many times in these kind of games over the last 5 years..Johnsosn or Lancaster.

I cant see though how anyone can see that its still frustrating they didnt convert more possession to scores given the dominance of possession and territory. There still has to be question marks over how good they are given the quality of opposition theyve faced to date.

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:You also cant pretend it was a flawless victory. They dominated against weak opposition but to pretend that this makes England suddenly invincible is delusionary. As does pretending Ireland are suddenly invincible after one big game over a distracted Wales side.
What we do know is that theres 3 teams in the title race now.